University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Arkansas 24, Tennessee 20
October 03, 2015 | Football
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Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones
(Opening Statement)
"Too many missed tackles, but really at the end of the day and what it takes to play winning football, we just weren't able to make big plays at big moments of the game. I give [Arkansas] credit. They were able to do that."
(On Arkansas out-rushing Tennessee in the second half)
"Well, I think some of it is a byproduct of we had the ball for a total of eight minutes in the second half. We only had four possessions. We started at the minus-24, the minus-6, the minus-7, and minus-14. We knew it was going to be a line of scrimmage game. It showed that."
(On the offense's second half struggles)
"I just said four possessions. And critical plays at critical stages, too many dropped passes. That changed the complexion of the game, and they did a good job. We couldn't possess the ball on fourth down. I believe they made four third down conversions in a row. In the first half, we did a very good job of getting off the field except for that one third-and-long that we gave up before the first half. So, it was a combination of getting in a rhythm, and then making plays. We had many opportunities to make plays and we just weren't able to do it."
(On the offensive drive with about three minutes left in the first half)
"We were calling the game the way we had been. We did want to get a first down and get going and possess the ball a little bit. At the end of the day, [if] we tackle their running back, it's fourth down and they punt and we go in with a lead at halftime."
(On players' confidence levels at the end of close games)
"Well I know they hurt. We all hurt. It's tough on all of us. When you invest so much -- and you know there is no magical potion, there is no magical cure -- you go back to work. You keep working to get better. I love these kids and our character's being tested. Our competitive character is being tested. Our fortitude's being tested. All you can do is keep working and work your way through it. I don't know. The opportunities are there. We just have to go make them. They've made them before and we are going to have many more opportunities in moving forward."
(On getting over the hump of losing close games and not allowing losses to carry over)
"How you get over the hump is you keep working and you win one of these games. That's the only way you can do it. It's resiliency. Again, we're all being tested. And then how do we keep them together? We have good character in our football program. We have good character young men. And, we have to. We have some good leaders. It starts with me. It starts with our coaching staff. It starts with our players, of staying together. We understand it's very challenging right now but we have to be very, very resilient and keep working."
(On what signs he is watching for to make sure the team is not letting losses carry over and influence future games)
"The big thing is body language. Body language tells you everything. Our players hurt. I feel for them. But again, it's understanding critical plays at critical moments of the game. Everybody wants to win. But it's what are we doing to win? But I'll read body language, I'll meet with our seniors, I'll meet with our team tomorrow. We'll talk through it. They've been resilient so far, and again you rely on the character in your football program."
(On Pig Howard and Marquez North's absences)
"[It was because of] injuries. Pig [Howard], we found out, I believe Thursday. Marquez [North] went to the hotel, tried to go through pregame warmups and couldn't go."
(On why Tennessee struggled to run the ball in the second half)
"I think just one-on-one matchups. Some of it was field position. But [Arkansas] did the same things they did the entire season. Again, it just comes down to execution."
(On Joshua Dobb's reduced number of rushing attempts)
"It's what they [Arkansas] were doing. Again, we had some designed quarterback runs, which we always do, but also like we talk about every week there's sometimes two options, three options. It's based on the defender that you're reading. So you always try to gain an extra hat in the run game with the quarterback and it's based on what defender you're reading. That defender was staying home for him to have to deal the ball."
(On trouble getting productivity to the wideouts right now)
"A combination of bottom line execution. We have to get the ball to the wideouts when they're open and they have to get open as well and create separation. And then we got to protect. It's all 11 individuals. Again, you can't just look at one particular position group. It's all of us and, again, we just have to continue to work to get better. It's inconsistency in the throwing game. It may be something here, it may be something there. Again, it takes everyone working together."
(On fixing inconsistencies)
"No, I thought we did do some good things in the throw game as well. So we just have to keep working at it. I think we've been set back with depth. Obviously when Marquez [North] and Pig [Howard] don't play, that sets back. Jason Croom, Johnathon Johnson still very, very limited. I think that really sets back that as well. It is what it is and we just have to continue to work on that. That's all that I can tell you."
(On whether or not Tennessee can be good enough to win if Jalen Hurd is stopped as much as he was)
"Well Jalen's a big part of it, but yes. It's playing complementary football. Again, we can't take seven points off the board on a punt return. We need those seven points. We are one or two individuals away on another kickoff return. We have to play complementary football and again, the field position game. We weren't able to get off the field in the second half. Defensively, we had way too many missed tackles. We take great pride in that. A lot of times we let the quarterback escape the pocket. We took our eyes off the coverage, came out of coverage and then he was able to hit something down the field. For this team to win, our margin of error is still very small and we have to play complementary football in all three phases and we didn't do that tonight."
(On debating whether to go for it or punt in fourth quarter)
"Thought a lot about that, but the way the game was going and the way they were effectively running the football in the second half, you know I don't usually like to do that at that stage of the game, play field position, but where the game was going and the favor of the game and we were stopping the run. We had a play that we liked that would get us a one on one matchups on the perimeter so we felt like we had a good play call there. We're confident in that play call and then if you don't get it you still have your three timeouts. If you can force a three and out you're still getting the ball back with some good amount of time on the clock and be able to drive the ball as well. We thought at that stage of the game that was the best decision."
Junior QB Joshua Dobbs
(On difference offensively between first and second halves)
"I think it's one of those games when we knew Arkansas stopped play as an offense. I mean they like to run the clock out, and we saw that they had the possession most of the time in the second half. So we have to do a better job of when we have the ball and especially when we're in the red zone and not kicking field goals but scoring touchdowns in the red zone."
(On Jalen Hurd in the second half)
"I mean we have playmakers across the board, so it's not like we are trying to get the ball in one person's hands. We're trying to spread the ball around and get the guys in space and able to make plays. We know what our guys can do so that's kind of our motto as an offense: get our playmakers the balls and let them make plays."
(On self-critique)
"My goal is to get this team to finish drives and to get this team to finish games. All of our games, all of our losses, have been close and that just comes down to finishing. There's always stuff we can improve on as a team and corrections that can be made, and that's what practice is for. My goal is to get this team to finish, and that's what we need to do moving forward."
(On the passing game clicking in practice maybe but not on the field)
"We had a productive day, we just have to finish out the day. It's not just one individual. It's eleven hats on the ball, all understanding the play, all understanding the concept and at the end of the day executing the play."
(On the team's confidence level going into a one possession game in the fourth quarter)
"Our confidence level is high. I'm not worried about that I know the type of team we have. We're still together. We have to keep reminding ourselves that the game comes down to three or four plays and you don't know which plays those are. We just have to keep executing."
Senior DB Brian Randolph
(On how the team feels)
"I'm not worried about my team. We have great character. It's my job to keep us together; no negative thoughts, no pointing the finger. I believe we're going to come back Monday and just have a great practice."
(On the difficulty of coming back after another tough loss)
"I mean these losses are tough definitely, but everyone loves to play football. No one is going to have a problem coming in and correcting what we need to correct."
(On how the team needs to play the rest of the season)
"We just have to come back and work on what we need to work on. We've got to keep the environment good, no negativity, keep the locker room good, just no one pointing fingers, and just playing ball. We all have got love for the game. We have got to come out and do it."
(On not being able to hold on to at least a fourteen point lead for the third time this season)
"It is definitely frustrating. I know it's frustrating for the fans, but we just have got to learn how to finish, finish out the game, and keep jumping on them when they are down."
Sophomore RB Alvin Kamara
(On his punt return that was called back for a touchdown)
"Another great job by the punt return team. I got some key blocks, allowed me to get to the outside and break it. Minus the call, the block in the back. We're not going to point fingers, it is what it is. The game has a life of its own, and we just take what it gives us."
(On the offense's mindset going into the final few drives)
"It was the same the whole game. I think our mindset on offense is if we're behind, we don't play like we're behind. We keep the mindset as if we were playing from in front."
(On frustration of the offense's production)
"We just talk about staying the course. Of course there's a little bit of frustration, but we use that and turn it into motivation to get going."
Sophomore DB Evan Berry
(On how hard it is to stay optimistic)
"Not really difficult I would say just knowing that we've been working for a certain common goal since January. We have our ups and downs and adversity here and there, but knowing that and just not letting up. Keeping focus because one loss, two losses, three loses here doesn't really amount to what we went through in the off season or during the season working toward our goal. So we just keep focusing and keep playing hard"
(On necessity of maturity and leadership within team)
"We have a couple of juniors and all of our seniors who just keep us focused because they know where they came from a couple years back. The culture has changed; we're just learning from our mistakes in the past and not letting it happen again and they're just keeping us hungry and keeping us motivated"
(On finding a way to win in the fourth quarter)
"We go into every game confident and just like every team in the fourth quarter we have our motivation. We just need to close the game out, get the win. Everybody has their ups and downs, there are big plays and sometimes the breaks just don't come our way, but like I said we just have to keep playing hard and don't let up."
Arkansas Head Coach Bret Bielema
(Opening Statement)
"I give a lot of credit to Tennessee, I think they're obviously a very good football team. I have a lot of respect for Butch and their program and what they're doing. A lot of coaches on that staff I know very well. I thought our guys came over here with the idea to win a game. We kind of talked about it all week, about enough is enough and kind of put a cap on it on Tuesday's practice and Wednesday's practice. At some point in your life as a man you just kind of got to finally take what the world wants to give you and you can't keep giving it away. Our guys really played well today. There wasn't going to be anything but full throttle for four quarters and it was probably the longest five seconds of my life there when BA (Brandon Allen) was going for the hook slide. I thought our defense responded really well in the second half. On offense we did a lot of really good things. I think the biggest part of the game was, we're down 14-0 and our offense takes it the length of the field and scores a touchdown. It kept anybody from flinching and we did a really nice job of responding from there on out and I'm excited for us. Really the only real significant injury, unfortunately Josh Williams broke his leg on that play, so unfortunate there but other than that we came out of it pretty healthy and I couldn't be happier for that locker room. Couldn't be happier for our fans, our coaches, everybody. Good news is we got a week here to get some great preparation for prep against Alabama and then we got a bye week coming, so I'm excited to see where this group can go."
(On the uncharacteristic start of the game)
"Yeah, you know we've been really good on kick cover. We actually tried to run a little pick play on the first play there. Unfortunately, our guy lost his footing. Two guys right at the point of attack on the return both fell down. We knew obviously the turf was going to come into play here and unfortunately in the first quarter we didn't respond well. We had that particular play and then there was a couple of wide outs that fell, but after that we kind of started getting out feet under us and played well."
(On the play of RB's Alex Collins and Rawleigh Williams III)
"Both of them have been really hard at practice, really practicing well. We're not hitting them much, those guys have been giving us so much on Saturdays, we're not touching them really during practice. Alex is playing as good of football as I've seen out of him and it's because he's preparing well."
(On holding Tennessee's rushing game in check)
"We have three keys to victory and one of the first keys was we were going to stop the run by imposing our will, and I think that summed it up big time today. There was little guys, there was big guys, there was medium guys that were making tackles. Obviously that's a big running back over there and our guys I think took a quarter to get used to it. We knew at halftime we had to do better on the edges and we did that... We knew if they could run the football, we weren't going to win the game, so that's what we talked about all week and thankfully they came through and delivered."
(On the fake field goal and blocked field goal)
"There was no explanation on what happened with that first one, with that botched field goal, so I thought we've been running that fake and it looked good. They normally had rushed that wide outside corner almost every snap, they pulled him out on that play for whatever reason and they made a good play."
(On how this win carries over in terms of confidence...)
"Well you know I think we can't lose sight of what helped us get to where we are. We're the definition of perseverance. I've had every biblical quote come across my desk, every letter from Hog fans, from people we don't know ... everybody has been so positive, I mean it's just been unbelievable. This is what it's all about."
(On not committing many penalties)
"Yeah that was a big one. We kind of talked a little bit on Tuesday too, enough is enough in the penalty department. Those were so critical here in the last couple weeks and we weren't shooting ourselves in the foot before or after a play, which was huge."
(On getting his first SEC road win)
"We've been wearing these little red bracelets all week just to teach our guys to win on the road is a big deal. We call it code red because you've got to persevere, you've got to be locked in. The crowd noise, it was loud out there when they got rockin' and rollin'. Our guys didn't flinch, didn't jump offside, did a lot of really good things. I think they learned how to win on the road. Obviously we're going into the toughest atmosphere probably in college football, that I've been in, when we go to Alabama. So we're probably going to need to put on two red wristbands this week."
Arkansas DB Ronan Gaines
(On the defense that they played tonight)
"That's the defense I know. Like I said a couple of years ago, I'm tired of being a secret. We are a great defense, and tonight I feel like we showed it."
(On turning the game around)
"We just believed. We just went out there and played our ball. We believe in this team, and we believe in each other. We won tonight as a team."
(On this win on the road)
"It feels great, you know. I saw a team with will out their today. I saw a team having fun today."
Arkansas QB Brandon Allen
(On getting the win)
"It feels really good to win. It's nice to have that feeling back and see the smile on a bunch of the guys faces after the game. It's great to get this one."
(On going down by 14)
"We weren't going to back down. I don't think we have all year. They got two quick touchdowns in the first quarter. The biggest thing is for our defense. We showed that we could get on the board and give them confidence. They really stepped up big for us late in the game. Any time you can give the defense confidence with what the offense is doing, that is always good."
(On having two backs with 100-plus yards rushing)
"Big credit goes to the offensive line. They were moving guys. They knew we were running the ball, but we were still making holes for our backs. They make big runs when something's not there. There is not enough we can say about the offensive line today."
(On difference in locker room after win)
"It's awesome. We have music playing. Guys are smiling. We know what it's like to lose. We haven't had this feeling in a while, so it's good to get it back, especially on the road. For a lot of guys on this team, that was their first SEC road win. It was a really big win for us. There has never been a quitting attitude on this team, even when the season has gone as expected. We show up every week ready to play."
(On what this does for him personally)
"I take it one week at a time. A&M was tough for me because I thought I could have played better than I did to give us a chance to win there at the end. You have to learn from mistakes that you make. I am going to keep learning from this game."
Arkansas RB Alex Collins
(On how it feels to get the win)
"It feels good. We always believed in each other, believed in ourselves. We worked hard ... It feels good seeing my teammates happy and seeing everybody excited and celebrating. It's a good feeling."
(On if he's playing his best football)
"I feel good. I've been working on myself and my game and trying to protect myself, and I've been doing pretty good so far, but I've got to give credit to my teammates and the offensive line and receivers blocking downfield, the offensive line is giving me a good hole, and the great quarterback we've got. Being a multiple-threat offense, it just opened things up for me."
(On Rawleigh Williams)
"Most definitely. Rawleigh's been working really hard, and just to see him performing and getting a 100-yard game, it shows all the hard work he's put in. Just knowing that when he's in the game, it's the same results and the same threat."
(On the confidence after being down 14-0)
"Our quarterback, Brandon Allen, does a really good job keeping us on track and staying on schedule, so any time things go sideways we just focus on it. It's not about how hard you get hit, it's about how you respond."